Archive for the ‘Dieter Zetsche’ tag

Even as DaimlerChrysler bids farewell to the Smart Roadster with the unveiling of a final, limited-run collector’s edition at the Geneva Motor Show, talks are underway that could result in the continued production of the car under a new nameplate.
DaimlerChrysler has agreed in principle to sell the rights and production equipment for the two-seat Roadster and Roadster Coupe to a British consortium called Project Kimber. The consortium is one of several parties that expressed interest in taking over production when Smart announced that it would pull the plug on the Roadster. Project Kimber had earlier made an unsuccessful bid to take over MG Rover, losing out to Nanjing of China. Although Project Kimber reportedly would love to see the Roadster reborn as the MG Midget, Nanjing is considered unlikely to sell the rights to the MG name.
Smart has never turned a profit, although DaimlerChrysler boss Dieter Zetsche told analysts in a conference call earlier this month that the brand is narrowing its operating losses and may break even next year. Still, Zetsche has asked financier Goldman Sachs to begin screening potential buyers for the brand. The death of the Roadster leaves Smart with two models, the ForTwo and the ForFour.
If Project Kimber succeeds in producing the Smart Roadster under another name, can we hope to see the car in the U.S.? There’s no word yet, but let’s hope there won’t be a continuation of the endless waffling by DaimlerChrysler that has kept all Smarts out of the U.S. to date. The special-edition Roadster is just the latest car we can look at but not buy; with its 101hp engine, brown leather interior and silver-and-matte-brown color scheme.

(This post originally appeared in the March 2, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

If you want one of these micro-roadsters, and you live in the U.S., you’ll have to wait awhile…
photo courtesy DaimlerChrysler

It never came here, and now it never will. The Smart Roadster, the
three-cylinder sports car manufactured by the Daimler-Chrysler subsidiary Smart, has ceased production after just two years, thanks to slow sales.
About 45,000 of the lightweight two-seaters were built, with the 2005 models stickering at $20,850.
Smart, originally a joint venture between Daimler-Chrysler and Swatch, the watch company, has been a big disappointment and a money-loser
for the carmaker, and speculation has long focused on when Daimler-Chrysler
might pull the plug.
Dieter Zetsche, new Mercedes Car Group chief
executive, has endorsed a restructuring plan to halt the flow of red ink by 2007, and plans are apparently still underway to bring the four-seat ForFour
microcar to the U.S. market next year.
Really want a Smart Roadster? No
problem. Just wait 25 years, when federal emissions and safety requirements will no longer apply.

(This post originally appeared in the November 10, 2005, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)